TDC gripes at new restrictions

Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 04:31 PM.

OKALOOSA ISLAND —Members of the Tourist Development Council on Wednesday voiced frustration with the Okaloosa County Commission’s latest efforts to oversee tourism spending.

Five of the six council members present at the mid-day meeting said the new requirements regarding approval of sponsorships are too cumbersome.

The TDC wants to approve a $10,000 sponsorship for an Oakley Fishing redfish tournament in Destin in August 2013. Under recent changes to the tourism development department’s policies, all TDC sponsorships — no matter the dollar amount — must be approved by commissioners.

TDC member Lino Maldonado said he disagrees with that policy and noted that the council doesn’t need to be “babysat” by the commissioners.

“Why are we as volunteers even wasting our time doing this?” he said at the meeting at the Emerald Coast Convention Center.

Maldonado said sponsorships should follow the same guidelines as regular department spending. Those guidelines allow any purchase under $25,000 to be approved by the department head and the county purchasing director. Maldonado said having to go through a third layer of red tape is “absolutely ridiculous.”

County Commissioner Dave Parisot, who serves on the TDC, said the commission tightened oversight of sponsorships in response to Commissioner James Campbell’s arrest Sept. 17.

Campbell is accused of using his position as a county commissioner to solicit sponsorships for the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival and earning commissions on the donations. Two of the sponsorships he secured came from Northwest Florida Regional Airport and the tourist development de-partment, county-run enterprises.

TDC Attorney Steve Hall told the council that the commission’s stance on sponsorships “was last-minute language responding to current events.”

Maldonado, TDC Chairwoman Kathy Houchins and other council members described county commissioners’ restrictions as “knee-jerk reactions.”

Dan O’Byrne, the new director of the tourism development department, told the council a certain amount of “gravitas” must be applied to the new policies.

He said that he hopes “after awhile” some of the restrictions could be loosened.

TDC members also complained that commissioners didn’t seek enough council input in choosing finalists to be the tourism development department’s new advertising agency.

Houchins and O’Byrne were named to a committee chosen by the county to interview the competing ad agencies. The rest of the TDC was invited to hear the agencies’ presentations, but only two members attended.

Maldonado and fellow council members Tim Edwards and Nick Nicholson said the entire process was faulty and that commissioners didn’t take advantage of the tourism experience on the TDC.

“Who on the board of county commissioners is the tourism expert?” Maldonado said.

“It doesn’t make sense” for the county to do business that way, he added.

In protest, the TDC voted 4-2 not to recommend the three ad agency finalists to county commissioners.

Hall pointed out that the TDC’s vote was not a “necessary legal step” in selecting a new agency. Under the county’s new policy, that decision lies solely with the commissioners, he said.

He also told members that their decision not to recommend the finalists could be seen as a rejection of the ad agencies and their credentials.

After the meeting, Houchins said she thinks TDC members are frustrated by the county’s increased supervision.

She acknowledged that the tighter oversight was a direct result of the Mark Bellinger financial scandal that rocked the county in May.

“I kind of understand it,” she said. “I mean, we were all blindsided.”

OKALOOSA ISLAND —Members of the Tourist Development Council on Wednesday voiced frustration with the Okaloosa County Commission’s latest efforts to oversee tourism spending.

Five of the six council members present at the mid-day meeting said the new requirements regarding approval of sponsorships are too cumbersome.

The TDC wants to approve a $10,000 sponsorship for an Oakley Fishing redfish tournament in Destin in August 2013. Under recent changes to the tourism development department’s policies, all TDC sponsorships — no matter the dollar amount — must be approved by commissioners.

TDC member Lino Maldonado said he disagrees with that policy and noted that the council doesn’t need to be “babysat” by the commissioners.

“Why are we as volunteers even wasting our time doing this?” he said at the meeting at the Emerald Coast Convention Center.

Maldonado said sponsorships should follow the same guidelines as regular department spending. Those guidelines allow any purchase under $25,000 to be approved by the department head and the county purchasing director. Maldonado said having to go through a third layer of red tape is “absolutely ridiculous.”

County Commissioner Dave Parisot, who serves on the TDC, said the commission tightened oversight of sponsorships in response to Commissioner James Campbell’s arrest Sept. 17.

Campbell is accused of using his position as a county commissioner to solicit sponsorships for the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival and earning commissions on the donations. Two of the sponsorships he secured came from Northwest Florida Regional Airport and the tourist development de-partment, county-run enterprises.

TDC Attorney Steve Hall told the council that the commission’s stance on sponsorships “was last-minute language responding to current events.”

Maldonado, TDC Chairwoman Kathy Houchins and other council members described county commissioners’ restrictions as “knee-jerk reactions.”

Dan O’Byrne, the new director of the tourism development department, told the council a certain amount of “gravitas” must be applied to the new policies.

He said that he hopes “after awhile” some of the restrictions could be loosened.

TDC members also complained that commissioners didn’t seek enough council input in choosing finalists to be the tourism development department’s new advertising agency.

Houchins and O’Byrne were named to a committee chosen by the county to interview the competing ad agencies. The rest of the TDC was invited to hear the agencies’ presentations, but only two members attended.

Maldonado and fellow council members Tim Edwards and Nick Nicholson said the entire process was faulty and that commissioners didn’t take advantage of the tourism experience on the TDC.

“Who on the board of county commissioners is the tourism expert?” Maldonado said.

“It doesn’t make sense” for the county to do business that way, he added.

In protest, the TDC voted 4-2 not to recommend the three ad agency finalists to county commissioners.

Hall pointed out that the TDC’s vote was not a “necessary legal step” in selecting a new agency. Under the county’s new policy, that decision lies solely with the commissioners, he said.

He also told members that their decision not to recommend the finalists could be seen as a rejection of the ad agencies and their credentials.

After the meeting, Houchins said she thinks TDC members are frustrated by the county’s increased supervision.

She acknowledged that the tighter oversight was a direct result of the Mark Bellinger financial scandal that rocked the county in May.

“I kind of understand it,” she said. “I mean, we were all blindsided.”